There are various words that have been a part of the content of this website, and you may not know what some of the words mean. On this page the words and their definitions are listed.
To find a certain word, press CTRL+F, then type the word you wish to find in brackets. Ex: If you wanted to find "mercenaries" you would type [mercenaries] and you would find the definition. The search bar for Internet Explorer will come up like a popup window, while Mozillia Firefox's will come up as a toolbar at the bottom of the page.
VOCABULARY ["A" Congress]: A two year period when all the senators and representatives work together
[administration]: All of the people appointed to work with the President
[alien]: A person who is not a citizen of the country in which she or he lives
[Anaconda Plan]: The four step plan of the North devised to slowly squeeze the life out of the South and win the Civil War
[appeals]: The review of the decision of a court by a higher court
[arsenal]: A place where weapons are kept
[blockade]: To close off the coast and prevent imports and exports
[bonds]: Paper notes given by the government to those whom it has sborrowed money, promising to repay the money in a certain length of time
[brackish water]: Water that is not suitable for drinking; mixture of salt water and fresh water
[Cabinet]: Closest advisors to the President
[casualties]: Number of dead people as well as the injured
[cede]: To give away to (another country or group); yield or grant
[census]: This is taken every 10 years in the U.S. and counts the number of people in each state; the number of representatives from each state depends on this
[charter]: Official paper giving permission for settlement and trade in a certain area
[compact]: Agreement to setup a civil government and obey laws
[compromise]: A settlement of differences by each side giving up part of what it wants
[deserters]: Members of miltary services who run away from their duty
[deport]: To send out of a country
[depression]: A period of slow economic activity with process low and many people out of work
[direct representation]: Voters elected to work for that area
[domestic]: Government affairs inside the country
[double jeopardy]: Being tried for the same crime twice
[electors]: Those named by state legislature to choose a President and a Vice- President
[embargo]: A law stopping all ships except foreign ships without cargo from leaving the country
[freedom of seas]: The right of neutral merchant ships during peace or war toenter any waters except those belonging to a country
[frontier]: The imaginary dividing line between settled and unsettled land
[fugitive]: Someone who has runaway
[Fugitive Slave Act]: Federal officers in the North were expected to help catch escaped slaves and take them back to the South
[House of Representatives]: The "Lower House"; The house of Congress that holds 435 people; number of representatives per state is decided upon according to state populations
[impeachment]: A formal accusation (This does not get the official thrown out of office. It is just the trial.)
[impressment]: The capturing of sailors to work on another's ship
[investors]: People who bought shares in a company
[indentured servant]: These were people who were bound to work for someone in the U.S. for a number of years to pay off their debt
[joint stock company]: Group of investors that put money together to create and colony, hoping to make money in return
[judicial review]: The courts' power to decide whether actions of Congress or the President are according to the Constitution]: Little government regulation; a property characteristic of the conservative side of the political spectrum
[land speculation]: Buying land to sell at a large profit
[Laissez-faire]: An economic doctrine that opposes governmental regulation of or interference in commerce beyond the minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operate according to its own economic laws.
[legislature]: Law-making body
[loose construction]: Broad interpretation of the Constitution (ex., If it doesn't say you can't, you can)
[neutral]: The right of a nation to choose not to take sides
[nullification]: A plan by which the states could declare acts of Congress to be unconstitutional
[patronage]: Power to make appointments to government jobs
[pet banks]: State banks in which Jackson placed funds he had withdrawn from the bank of the U.S.
[perpetual]: Everlasting
[Personal Liberty Laws]: Laws which stopped states and local officials in the North from obeying the Fugitive Slave Laws
[plurality]: The greatest number of votes, but less than one half
[popular sovereignty]: People of a territory are allowed the ability to vote on whether or not they support slavery
[precedents]: Actions or court decisions that serve as examples or guides later on
[President Pro Tempore]: Temporary president of the Senate when the Vice President of the U.S. cannot attend
[primary source]: A firsthand account of a historic event (ex., letters, diaries, artifacts)
[proprietary colonies]: Founded on areas of land given to proprietors
[proprietors]: People given large areas of land in America from the government
[patronage]: The power to hire people for government jobs
[quartered]: Given a place to live
[ratify]: To approve
[rituals]: Ceremonies
[royal colony]: Colony under the King's control
[secede]: To break away
[secondary source]: Secondhand account of a historic event based on primary sources. (ex., textbooks, biography, and reports)
[sectionalism]: Rivalry based on the special interests of different areas of the country
[sedition]: The action or the use language to stir up rebellion against a government
[Senate]: The "Upper House" of Congress; The house of Congress that holds 100 members, there is an equal number of representatives per state
[siege]: To surround a particular target and prevent anything from coming or going, potentially starving them
[slaves]: People who were property of their owners
[Speaker of the House]: The leader of the House of Representatives; second in line for the presidency
[specie]: Gold and silver coin
[speculators]: People who buy bonds, stocks, or land to sell at a profit when the price later goes up
[Spoils System]: Giving goverment jobs to political supporters
[state's rights]: The idea that each state could decide when an act of the government was unconstitutional
[strict construction]: Narrow interpretation of the Constitution (ex., If it doesn't say you can, you can't)
[suffrage]: The right to vote
[tariff]: Tax on imported goods
[theater]: An area in a war where action is taking place
[Time & Place Rule]: The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be
["The" Congress]: The Senate and the House of Representatives together
[tribute]: Money paid to a group so that they won't attack you
[turnpike]: A road built by a private company that charged a fee to use the road
[veto]: Refuse to approve
[virtual representation]: Persons elected by English voters to represent all the people of the British empire
[Whip]: A person whose key role is to try to persuade other Senators or Representatives of the same party to vote the way the party leader
wants them to vote on a certain topic
[writs of assistance]: Search warrants that allowed government officials to search anywhere for suspected smuggled goods
To find a certain word, press CTRL+F, then type the word you wish to find in brackets. Ex: If you wanted to find "mercenaries" you would type [mercenaries] and you would find the definition. The search bar for Internet Explorer will come up like a popup window, while Mozillia Firefox's will come up as a toolbar at the bottom of the page.
VOCABULARY
["A" Congress]: A two year period when all the senators and representatives work together
[administration]: All of the people appointed to work with the President
[alien]: A person who is not a citizen of the country in which she or he lives
[Anaconda Plan]: The four step plan of the North devised to slowly squeeze the life out of the South and win the Civil War
[appeals]: The review of the decision of a court by a higher court
[arsenal]: A place where weapons are kept
[blockade]: To close off the coast and prevent imports and exports
[bonds]: Paper notes given by the government to those whom it has sborrowed money, promising to repay the money in a certain length of time
[brackish water]: Water that is not suitable for drinking; mixture of salt water and fresh water
[Cabinet]: Closest advisors to the President
[casualties]: Number of dead people as well as the injured
[cede]: To give away to (another country or group); yield or grant
[census]: This is taken every 10 years in the U.S. and counts the number of people in each state; the number of representatives from each state depends on this
[charter]: Official paper giving permission for settlement and trade in a certain area
[compact]: Agreement to setup a civil government and obey laws
[compromise]: A settlement of differences by each side giving up part of what it wants
[deserters]: Members of miltary services who run away from their duty
[deport]: To send out of a country
[depression]: A period of slow economic activity with process low and many people out of work
[direct representation]: Voters elected to work for that area
[domestic]: Government affairs inside the country
[double jeopardy]: Being tried for the same crime twice
[electors]: Those named by state legislature to choose a President and a Vice- President
[embargo]: A law stopping all ships except foreign ships without cargo from leaving the country
[freedom of seas]: The right of neutral merchant ships during peace or war toenter any waters except those belonging to a country
[frontier]: The imaginary dividing line between settled and unsettled land
[fugitive]: Someone who has runaway
[Fugitive Slave Act]: Federal officers in the North were expected to help catch escaped slaves and take them back to the South
[House of Representatives]: The "Lower House"; The house of Congress that holds 435 people; number of representatives per state is decided upon according to state populations
[impeachment]: A formal accusation (This does not get the official thrown out of office. It is just the trial.)
[impressment]: The capturing of sailors to work on another's ship
[investors]: People who bought shares in a company
[indentured servant]: These were people who were bound to work for someone in the U.S. for a number of years to pay off their debt
[joint stock company]: Group of investors that put money together to create and colony, hoping to make money in return
[judicial review]: The courts' power to decide whether actions of Congress or the President are according to the Constitution]: Little government regulation; a property characteristic of the conservative side of the political spectrum
[land speculation]: Buying land to sell at a large profit
[Laissez-faire]: An economic doctrine that opposes governmental regulation of or interference in commerce beyond the minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operate according to its own economic laws.
[legislature]: Law-making body
[loose construction]: Broad interpretation of the Constitution (ex., If it doesn't say you can't, you can)
[meeting houses]: Puritan places of worship
[mercenaries]: Hired soldiers
[national anthem]: Song of praise and patriotism
[nationalism]: Pride and loyalty to one's country
[neutral]: The right of a nation to choose not to take sides
[nullification]: A plan by which the states could declare acts of Congress to be unconstitutional
[patronage]: Power to make appointments to government jobs
[pet banks]: State banks in which Jackson placed funds he had withdrawn from the bank of the U.S.
[perpetual]: Everlasting
[Personal Liberty Laws]: Laws which stopped states and local officials in the North from obeying the Fugitive Slave Laws
[plurality]: The greatest number of votes, but less than one half
[popular sovereignty]: People of a territory are allowed the ability to vote on whether or not they support slavery
[precedents]: Actions or court decisions that serve as examples or guides later on
[President Pro Tempore]: Temporary president of the Senate when the Vice President of the U.S. cannot attend
[primary source]: A firsthand account of a historic event (ex., letters, diaries, artifacts)
[proprietary colonies]: Founded on areas of land given to proprietors
[proprietors]: People given large areas of land in America from the government
[patronage]: The power to hire people for government jobs
[quartered]: Given a place to live
[ratify]: To approve
[rituals]: Ceremonies
[royal colony]: Colony under the King's control
[secede]: To break away
[secondary source]: Secondhand account of a historic event based on primary sources. (ex., textbooks, biography, and reports)
[sectionalism]: Rivalry based on the special interests of different areas of the country
[sedition]: The action or the use language to stir up rebellion against a government
[Senate]: The "Upper House" of Congress; The house of Congress that holds 100 members, there is an equal number of representatives per state
[siege]: To surround a particular target and prevent anything from coming or going, potentially starving them
[slaves]: People who were property of their owners
[Speaker of the House]: The leader of the House of Representatives; second in line for the presidency
[specie]: Gold and silver coin
[speculators]: People who buy bonds, stocks, or land to sell at a profit when the price later goes up
[Spoils System]: Giving goverment jobs to political supporters
[state's rights]: The idea that each state could decide when an act of the government was unconstitutional
[strict construction]: Narrow interpretation of the Constitution (ex., If it doesn't say you can, you can't)
[suffrage]: The right to vote
[tariff]: Tax on imported goods
[theater]: An area in a war where action is taking place
[Time & Place Rule]: The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be
["The" Congress]: The Senate and the House of Representatives together
[tribute]: Money paid to a group so that they won't attack you
[turnpike]: A road built by a private company that charged a fee to use the road
[veto]: Refuse to approve
[virtual representation]: Persons elected by English voters to represent all the people of the British empire
[Whip]: A person whose key role is to try to persuade other Senators or Representatives of the same party to vote the way the party leader
wants them to vote on a certain topic
[writs of assistance]: Search warrants that allowed government officials to search anywhere for suspected smuggled goods
[The Growth of Nationalism]